Kim’s Story
Kim* has confidence and a smile on her face as she thinks about the future. Like many teenagers, she dreams about what she’ll do with her life:
“I have a lot of dreams. I want to be an actress, I want to be a photographer, I want to help youth who had suffered like me.”
But Kim has not always been so hopeful about the days ahead of her. In recent years, the Philippines has seen a dramatic increase in cybersex trafficking crimes—and Kim was one of thousands of children in the Philippines who are victims of this horrific crime, exploited online for viewers around the world.
Opportunity Became a Trap
Kim* grew up just outside of the capital city of Manila. Much of her young life was spent in poverty with her parents and five siblings. When she thinks of her life then, she says, “We were really poor. We could barely make ends meet. We needed money for my siblings’ education.”
Kim was just 12 years old and vulnerable to the lies of criminals whose only aim was to prey on and exploit her. Criminals like AJ.*
AJ promised to take care of her needs and put her in school if she moved with him to Manila. He even promised her a job to help her siblings pay their school fees. Never in their worst dreams did her parents think AJ would hurt Kim, so they allowed her to go with him.
At first, nothing seemed wrong. In fact, Kim had a more comfortable life than she had ever experienced before. He sent her to a good school, fed her well and treated her kindly. But that was all about to change. A few months after Kim arrived at AJ’s home, he approached her and took her photo. A nude photo.
Kim’s exploitation had begun.
Unimaginable Pain
What started out as a nude photo turned into sexual abuse by AJ himself and exposing her in front of a webcam. These horrific images were then streamed over the internet to pedophiles and predators across the world, located in places like the U.S., Australia, Canada, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Germany. This is cybersex trafficking.
The abuse of Kim didn’t stop with online exploitation. It escalated to the point where AJ would take her to meet foreign “customers” in hotel rooms across Manila. There, they would pay to rape her. Very sparingly, she received PHP500 (about $13) for her “work.”
Kim endured this unimaginable pain for three years. She recalls the abuse and her fear of AJ, saying,
“It was like he had a total grasp on me, and it was so difficult to break away.”
Another Night of Abuse Turns into Rescue, Freedom
One night, AJ brought Kim to a hotel in Manila. He thought it would be just another night of selling Kim’s body to a customer he met online. Little did he know, the IJM team was working with law enforcement to track him down and arrest him.
Kim was also expecting another night of abuse, but when the door to the hotel room opened, she saw the faces of law enforcement officers.
She was afraid she was going to be arrested, but IJM social workers on the scene were able to reassure her that she was not in trouble. In fact, she was free. It was AJ who was now in trouble.
As Kim was taken into a protective shelter with other survivors of cybersex trafficking, she realized she didn’t have to go back to a life of exploitation and abuse.
She says “…it was though a great weight suddenly disappeared from my chest. I felt a sense of freedom.”
‘Telling My Story Gave Me Relief’
Kim testified in court against AJ and bravely recounted the many instances when AJ himself abused and exploited her in front of the camera. With the help testimonies from other victims like Kim, AJ was convicted and sent to prison. He continues to face additional charges for his crimes against Kim.
Today, she is in high school and is encouraged by her strong faith in God. Kim says, “I am so happy now. I am so filled with hope. I have so many dreams, there are so many things I want to do.” She speaks with students about her experience, so they won’t be tricked by traffickers like she had been. And she encourages others to keep fighting alongside her.
“Before, my life was a mess…but because of the love of God, I was rebuilt. I had hope to fight back; I was made whole again.”
*A pseudonym has been used and images obscured for the protection of this IJM client.
